This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
With reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B, a conventional connecting rod 1010 according to the principles of the present disclosure will now be described. The connecting rod 1010 is provided for connecting between a crankshaft and a piston as is well known in the art. The connecting rod 1010 includes a small end 1012 that can have a piston pin bushing 1014 which is adapted for receiving a piston pin and a big end 1016 having a crank pin bore 1018 to carry bearings adapted for receiving a crank pin of a crankshaft. A stem portion 1020 extends between the small end 1012 and the big end 1016. The connecting rod big end 1016 can include an end cap 1022 formed separate or cracked separate from the remaining portion of the connecting rod 1010 and connected thereto by bolts 1024.
The piston pin bushing 1014 includes a cylindrical hole 1026 for receiving a piston pin along an axis 1028. The crank pin bore 1018 includes an aperture 1030 which consists of a cylindrical hole for receiving bearings and a crank pin along an axis 1032. The stem portion 1020 can have an I-beam shaped cross-section including a pair of legs 1034 and a web 1036 extending therebetween. As shown in FIG. 10B, the web 1036 has oppositely facing surfaces 1038, 1040 that define a thickness T in a direction parallel to the axis 1032. In addition, FIG. 10C is a cross sectional view of the stem portion 1020 taken along line 10C-10C of FIG. 10A.
It is desirable to provide a connecting rod with reduced mass and an optimized position of center of gravity.